PROPOSALS for a new hospital building have been submitted, aimed at cutting waiting times for heart patients in south Durham and radically improving treatment.

Plans for the unit, at Darlington Memorial Hospital, will reduce the time it takes for patients to be examined and diagnosed.

At the moment, people with coronary heart disease problems in Darlington and south Durham travel to Middlesbrough or Newcastle for angiography tests.

Now, South Durham Health Care NHS Trust has submitted a detailed application to Darlington Borough Council for the development of its own cardio angiography building.

Consultant cardiologist Dr Jerry Murphy said the move was an an important one.

He said: "It is a massive development in terms of services for the district.

"The new building will radically improve facilities and bring waiting lists right down."

The new unit, which will cost £1m to build and £800,000 per year to run, will be on the site of Darlington Memorial Hospital, in Hollyhurst Road.

It has been made possible through a partnership between the area's primary care trusts, Darlington, Sedgefield and Durham Dales.

The equipment to carry out the tests will be purchased with almost £700,000 provided by the New Opportunities Fund.

Outline planning permission for the development was granted by the council in April 2002.

Dr Murphy said a lot of consultation had taken place since then and the trust was now in a position to move forward with the scheme.

If councillors back the more detailed planning application, it is thought building work could begin soon.

The demand for cardio angiography tests in the region is high and the the only facilities available to patients are at the James Cook University Hospital, in Middlesbrough, and the Freeman Hospital, in Newcastle.

Dr Murphy said there were many advantages to allowing the diagnostic work to be carried out in Darlington.

He said: "It'll increase the number of patients that can be seen, free capacity in the other hospitals, bring down waiting times and allow patients to be seen closer to home."

The tests involve inserting a tiny plastic tube into the arteries over the surface of the heart and injecting a contrast material, to determine if surgery is needed.